Moon Over Maui

Celebrate Your Precious Life–Days of Joy

Written By: Jueli Garfinkle
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Oct•
12•11

Tonight’s full moon begins the second half of Tishrei, referred to as the Days of Joy and Celebration.

So, make the time to celebrate! Look up at the moon—feel yourself within the Divine Unfolding—and exclaim your joy for being alive. Sure, there may be some, maybe many, parts of your life that you hope to change or improve on. But these are not the weeks to think about that.

Look up at the moon. Celebrate your precious life.

Now through October 28 is the time to celebrate the very fact that you’re alive. The extraordinary feat that you are living for another minute, another day, another experience. Many of us are in the habit of pretending we are stronger than we actually are. More independent than is possible. We puff ourselves up to insulate our hearts from the raw, vulnerable, state of being human. We deny our vulnerability and dependence.

I’m practiced at this. It took me till I was forty years old to even admit that I was sometimes vulnerable. The truth, of course, is that I’m always vulnerable—we all are. Anything that distracts me from that truth is an illusion. Still, I have spiritual narcolepsy. I fall asleep again and again. Do you?

As this second half of Tishrei begins, the focus is to stay open to—and, in fact, to celebrate!—the gift and extraordinary opportunity it is to be alive and vulnerable to the Divine Unfolding. Alive exactly as you are right now. No improvement necessary. Celebrating your every thought. Your every feeling. The relationships you have with God, with yourself, with other people.

Call to action: Be outside. Walk, eat, sleep, outside (perhaps in a sukkah). Allow the night’s breeze to blow through your unprotected heart. Invite people to spend time with you. Enjoy yourself. Look up at the moon. Feel the strength of your vulnerability. Celebrate your precious life. Sing aloud.